David Smith Urquhart

1939 – 1945 Star, Air Crew Europe Star, Defence Medal, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal (CVSM) with Clasp and Bomber Command Bar, 1939-45 War Medal

Royal Canadian Air Force

425 (Alouette) Squadron

WW II

David Smith Urquhart was born 27 August 1921 on the family farm, north of Roland, Manitoba to Charles and Elizabeth (Bain) Urquhart. He was a big brother Charles Arthur Ian, called Ian, and a sister who died in infancy. David was raised on the farm and was described as a typical rural kid. Riding horses and shooting skunks and crows was a common activity. He was described as artistic, as demonstrated through his watercolour paintings and short poems he loved to write. He was an academic as he finished grade 11 before enlisting in the Royal Canadian Air Force. David was athletic, as he swam in the creek in the summer and played hockey with the Roland hockey team in the winter. He was very congenial and easy to get along with. He always had his car shone up to pick up Thelma Patterson, the girl of his dreams, for the local Saturday night dances. They were engaged to be married before he went overseas. After school he worked for a local farmer so he knew the value of a hard days’ work. David lived the way most kids did in the 20s’ and 30s’, work hard and play hard after the work is done.

David enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force on 14 July 1941 at Winnipeg, Manitoba. He trained as an Air Gunner and embarked for the U.K. 19 February 1942. He was posted to 425 (Alouette) Squadron, a bomber squadron at Dishforth Yorks, 13 April 1942 and promoted to Flight Sergeant 12 September. On 06 December 1942, his aircrew left Dishforth Yorks, in a Wellington bomber, “KW-G”, for a bombing raid on Mannheim, Germany. At 0020 hrs, 07 December, while on return to base, an S.O.S. was received as they flew over the Bay of Biscay. Nothing further was heard of “KW-G” and on 23 December 1942 the crew was presumed dead. The full crew, WO2 J. Cachia, P/O G.E. Cronk RCAF (USA), P/O R. Hayes RCAF (USA), P/O J.D.J. Rodger and F/S D.S. Urquhart, is named on the Runnymede Memorial in Surrey, England as they have no known grave.

In the summer of 2015 the Wellington III Bomber BJ675 “KW-G” was found buried in a wooded area near Langonnet, France. No bodies or parachutes were found and the plane was out of fuel. It is believe the crew abandoned the aircraft over the Bay of Biscay, parachuted into the bay and drowned. The plane, on its own, continued to fly until it ran out of fuel and crashed.

A memorial service for the crew was held in Langonnet, France 07 May 2016. The cairn features a picture of the Wellington bomber along with David and his crew mates.

David Smith Urquhart was 21 when he died in 1942 and he is commemorated on the Roland, Manitoba War Memorial and Page 121 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance in Ottawa. Urquhart Lake, in the north-west corner of Manitoba is named for him.